© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution 1 Describe individual differences and their importance in understanding behavior. 2 Explain how personality influences behavior in organizations. 3 Discuss the practical application of personality theories in organizations. 4 Define social perception and explain the factors that affect it. 5 Identify five common barriers to social perception. 6 Explain the attribution process and how attributions affect managerial behavior. Learning Outcomes

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Describe individual differences and their importance in understanding behavior. 1 Learning Outcome

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The environment Organization Work group Job Personal life Variables Influencing Individual Behavior The person Skills and abilities Personality Perceptions Attitudes Values Ethics Behavior

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Propositions of Behavior Person Variety Situational interpretations Interactional Psychology function of a continuous, multi- directional interaction between person and situation active in process –Changed by situations –Changes situations people vary in many characteristics 2 –The objective situation –Person’s subjective view of the situation

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Explain how personality influences behavior in organizations. 2 Learning Outcome

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Definition of Personality A relatively stable set of characteristics that influences an individual’s behavior

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Personality Theories Trait Theory – understand individuals by breaking down behavior patterns into observable traits Psychodynamic Theory – emphasizes the unconscious determinants of behavior Humanistic Theory – emphasizes individual growth and improvement Integrative Approach – describes personality as a composite of an individual’s psychological processes

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Big Five Personality Traits SOURCES: P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO-PI Personality Inventory (Odessa, Fla.: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992); J. F. Salgado, “The Five Factor Model of Personality and Job Performance in the European Community,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997):

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Personality Characteristics in Organizations Locus of Control InternalExternal I control what happens to me! People and circumstances control my fate!

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Choose A or B for each item: 1. a. Becoming a success is a matter of hard work; luck has little or nothing to do with it. b. Getting a good job depends mainly on being in the right place at the right time. 2. a. The average citizen can have an influence in government decisions. b. This world is run by the few people in power, and there is not much the little guy can do about it. Beyond the Book: What’s Your Locus of Control?

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Choose A or B for each item: 3. a. As far as world affairs are concerned, most of us are the victims of forces we can neither understand nor control. b. By taking an active part in political and social affairs, people can control world events. 4. a. With enough effort we can wipe out political corruption. b. It is difficult for people to have much control over the things politicians do in office. Beyond the Book: What’s Your Locus of Control?

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Scoring Key: The internal locus of control answers are: 1a, 2a, 3b, 4a The external locus of control answers are: 1b, 2b, 3a, 4b Which category did you select more answers from? Beyond the Book: What’s Your Locus of Control? SOURCES: T. Adeyemi-Bello, “Validating Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale with a Sample of Not-for-Profit Leaders,” Management Research News 24 (2001): 25–35; J. B. Rotter, “Generalized Expectancies for Internal vs. External Locus of Control of Reinforcement,” Psychological Monographs 80, whole No. 609 (1966).

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Definition of Self-Efficacy Beliefs and expectations about one’s ability to accomplish a specific task effectively

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Personality Characteristics in Organizations Sources of self-efficacy Prior experiences and prior success Behavior models (observing success) Persuasion Assessment of current physical and emotional capabilities

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Self-Esteem Feelings of Self Worth Success tends to increase self-esteem Failure tends to decrease self-esteem

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Self-Monitoring Behavior based on cues High self monitors –flexible: adjust behavior according to the situation and the behavior of others –can appear unpredictable and inconsistent Low self monitors –act from internal states rather than from situational cues –show consistency –less likely to respond to work group norms or supervisory feedback

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. MOST LIKELY TO... Low self monitors High self monitors Get promoted Change employers Make a job-related geographic move Accomplish tasks, meet other’s expectations, seek out central positions in social networks Self-promote Demonstrate higher levels of managerial self-awareness; base behavior on other’s cues and the situation

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The Role of Affect Positive Affect – an individual’s tendency to accentuate the positive aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general Negative Affect – an individual’s tendency to accentuate the negative aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Personality Characteristics in Organizations A strong situation can overwhelm the effects of individual personalities by providing strong cues for appropriate behavior

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Strong personalities will dominate in a weak situation Personality Characteristics in Organizations

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Discuss the practical application of personality theories in organizations. 3 Learning Outcome

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. [Projective Test] elicits an individual’s response to abstract stimuli [Behavioral Measures] personality assessments that involve observing an individual’s behavior in a controlled situation Four Measures of Personality

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. [Self-Report Questionnaire] assessment involving an individual’s responses to questions [Myers-Briggs Type Indicator MBTI)] instrument measuring Jung’s theory of individual differences Four Measures of Personality

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator [ Based on Carl Jung’s theories ] –People are fundamentally different –People are fundamentally alike –People have preference combinations for extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. [ Based on Carl Jung’s theories ] –Human similarities/differences understood by combining preferences Ways of doing things Extraversion or introversion –No preferences better than others –Understand, celebrate, and appreciate differences Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to understand individual differences by analyzing the combinations of preferences.

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. MBTI Preferences

MBTI Scales ISTJISFJINFJINTJ ISTPISFPINFPINTP ESTPESFPENFPENTP ESTJESFJENFJENTJ Introverts Extraverts Sensing TypesIntuitive Types SOURCE: Modified and reproduced by special permission of the Publisher. Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. Palo Alto, CA from Introduction to Type, Sixth Edition by Isabel Briggs Myers. Copyright 1998 by Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Further reproduction is prohibited without the Publisher’s written consent.

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Uses of MBTI Identify learning and teaching styles Decide on careers (Example: many managers are ESTJs) Determine decision-making style Determine management style Build teams

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Define social perception and explain the factors that affect it. 4 Learning Outcome

Social Perception Model Social Perception Target Characteristics Physical appearance Verbal communication Nonverbal cues Intentions Perceiver Characteristics Familiarity with target Attitudes/Mood Self-concept Cognitive structure Situational Characteristics Interaction context Strength of situational cues Barriers Selective perception Stereotyping First-impression error Projection Self-fulfilling prophecies

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. How quickly can you spot the 2’s in the picture to the right? The task is effortless for “synesthetes,” who perceive the 2’s as a different color from the 5’s. Synesthesia is a rare perceptual condition in which one sensory perception triggers another— for example, music evokes colors or smells. Beyond the Book: Synesthesia: Unusual Perception

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Identify the common barriers to social perception. 5 Learning Outcome

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Optimists and pessimists’ clashing personalities can generate workplace friction Optimists’ ambition motivates success, but can overreach itself if unchecked Pessimists provide contingency planning, more accurate estimates of success/failure odds Beyond the Book: Optimists, Pessimists, and Office Culture

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Impression Management Impression Management – process by which individuals try to control the impression others have of them –Name dropping –Appearance –Self-description –Flattery –Favors –Agreement with opinion

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. When promising results, is it better to err on the side of conservatism? Managing expectations downward ensures that there are only good surprises for one’s clients and employers, suggests career-issues columnist Jared Sandberg of the Wall Street Journal. The penalty for missing expectations may be greater than the benefit for exceeding them. Beyond the Book: Adjusting Others’ Expectations

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Explain the attribution process and how attributions affect managerial behavior. 6 Learning Outcome

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Attribution Theory explains how individuals pinpoint the causes of their own behavior or that of others

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Information Cues For attribution information gathering –consensus –distinctiveness –consistency

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Attribution Biases Fundamental Attribution Error – tendency to make attributions to internal causes when focusing on someone else’s behavior Self-Serving Bias – tendency to attribute one’s own successes to internal causes and one’s failures to external causes

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Researchers at MIT and the University of Chicago mailed 5000 résumés to potential employers, using “white-sounding” and “black-sounding” names Callback rates on identical résumés were substantially higher for white-sounding names than for black-sounding names Conclusion: stereotypes and false attributions can lead to discrimination in hiring. Beyond the Book: What’s in a Name?